Kevin Roderick, by Marc Goldstein courtesy KCRW. In May, Kevin Roderick's LA Observed will celebrate its fifth year as one of the city's main online destination for those seeking the inside scoop on media and politics. Roderick, a 25-year veteran of the LA Times and author of two books about Los Angeles, sat down for nearly an hour where talking about the past, present and future of LA Observed, why he thinks people should......

Downtown Los Angeles, by kpe II via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr. Hey, who's ready for another strike? The actors might be after the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists voted to split with the Screen Actors Guild, heightening fears that Hollywood may be in for another work stoppage. The last one cost Los Angeles County more than $1 billion. Time to switch from Whole Foods to Trader Joes, actors. OK, so......

"the road home," by pink_fish13 via LAist Featured Photos Pool on Flickr Boy am I glad I don't live in this Torrance neighborhood, where a cache of machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition were found in a house Friday. The residents may be terrorists, police say, but the owner of the weapons said he is just a collector. Do you think he also collects dead bodies in......

Louis Allen as Christopher Walken and Amy Kelly as Robert DeNiro/Photo courtesy of Patrick O'Sullivan. COMEDY* All About Walken: The Impersonators of Christopher Walken is back on a new night and new venue (running only on Thursdays until April 3). Conceived and directed by Patrick O’Sullivan, the comedy show has an entire multiracial cast playing the same guy (Chris Walken, duh) picking up his tics and cadences to a tee. Tickets go fast for......

Photo by Steve Rhodes via Flickr A swipe from back east today shows that the NY Times couldn't help but point out the frequency the LA Times names a new head honcho; a headline in today's paper reads: "New Top Editor for Los Angeles Times, the 4th in 3 Years." Ouch! (Hey, we noticed our own local Daily News getting snarky in their headline last night!) The announcement that Russ Stanton, who has been......

As we reported earlier, the two-month Writers Guild of America strike is nearly over. WGA-East members voted heard about the proposal earlier and West members weighed in at 7 p.m. Some are already questioning the deal, but most expressed relief that the work stoppage is about to come to an end. Stay tuned to LAist for excellent coverage. A man was shot this morning in North Hollywood by an alleged gang member who approached......

Maybe he's a cat person? LA Times big-wig Sam Zell has been quoted as saying a healthy love of lady-parts is downright patriotic. LA Observed explores the origins of what was said and why; apparently Zell thinks pussy's so nice, he said it twice: "He said: 'Everyone likes pussy. It’s un-American not to like pussy'" explains someone at the Times. Prince Andrew paid a visit to Compton yesterday to helm the ribbon-cutting ceremony at......

Let's party on the streets! The homicide rate is set to match its lowest number since 1970. The overall homicide rate is down 17 percent from last year. (More about it on LAist here.) With all this peace and, well, non-murder, Snoop might have to find something else to sing about. More good news: Gas prices dropped about 3 cents over the last two weeks. The average price of regular gasoline on Friday was......

Tribune Company CEO Dennis FitzSimons will be stepping down at the end of the year, letting Chicago businessman Sam Zell take over the company. The Tribune Company owns the Los Angeles Times. President Bush signed a huge Energy Bill yesterday, in hopes of "reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure."......

Following weeks and weeks of stalling, the State Senate is finally getting ready to pass the budget bill after securing the crucial vote of Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman. Good news in the environmental department: San Bernardino County authorities have just agreed to start cutting back on their greenhouse gas emissions after monitoring conditions over the next 30 months. Secretary of State Debra Bowen is going after ES&S for selling close to 1,000 uncertified......

In like a fox and out with a yodel? Microsoft wants to buy Yahoo for $50 billion. Many have speculated that Microsoft would eventually spring for big Y, as a marriage with the online media giant increasingly appears to be the most viable option to compete with Google in the great war of search and online advertising. Always a fun rumor to kick around, but today it's being corroborated by the WSJ, and considering......

Good morning LAist readers, are you already taking a break from working? Sounds good to us! Here is what you missed over the Holiday weekend. Enjoy! News & Community A look into Metro's internal newsletter. We read the weeklies so you don't have to. What do you think of the NoHo Arts District new crosswalks? New owner of the LA Times, Sam Zell, doesn't know much about newspapers or the internet. Extra Extra: Entourage,......

When Sam Zell, the soon-to-be new owner of Tribune Corp., parent company of the LA Times, was quoted as saying this on Saturday, we called him a ridiculous old man: "If all of the newspapers in America did not allow Google to steal their content, how profitable would Google be?" Zell said during the question period after his speech. "Not very." And the consensus from the blogosphere this weekend? That he's a ridiculous old......

When Tribune Corp was met with two similar offers for its media conglomerate that includes the LA Times, the Chicago-based company decided that it felt better selling to a fellow Chicagoian, real estate billionaire Sam Zell than to a group of billionaires living here in LA. Although Zell will be ponying up just $300 million of the $8.2 billion deal, he will be calling the shots. And on his radar, incredibly is Google, and......

By week's end, LA is regularly littered with a handful of free rags. Combined, these publications put the Tribune Company's Spring Street operation LA Times to shame as far as reporting on the dozens of municipalities that make up this metropolis of more than 12 million people. LAist reads the weeklies so you don't have to. If there's anything we missed, let us know, or better yet drop it in the comments section below.......

Geffen, Zell Reportedly Discuss LA Times Movie and music mogul David Geffen is negotiating with Sam Zell on a possible deal for the Los Angeles Times following Zell's successful bid for Tribune Co., a published report said Thursday. How much of the city is still trying to feign interest in this ongoing saga? LA gang members in country illegally may face quicker deportation City and county prosecutors say they are working more closely with......

LA Times Buyer Reveals Pre-Deal Negotiating Drama The Chicago billionaire about to take over the company that owns the Los Angeles Times said in remarks published Wednesday that L.A. billionaire Eli Broad sought him out as a partner last month, then tried "to stick a knife in my back." Trial of Suspected Los Angeles Serial Killer to Begin Tuesday A former pizza delivery man accused of being one of the city's most prolific serial killers......

UPDATE: The deal went down this morning according to the Tribune. It's liberation day. The LA Times reports:Billionaire real estate mogul Sam Zell has reached an agreement to buy Tribune Co. in a two-stage deal valued at $8.2 billion, or $34 a share, the company said this morning. The Tribune Company auction has been all show -- nice bids but no bite -- kind of like those "30 percent chance of rain" days when there's......

Photo by The Spinosaurus @ Flickr Tom LaBonge Proposes Smoke Free Parks Los Angeles Councilman Proposes Smoke-Free Parks Los Angeles parks may be headed for smoke-free designation if City Councilman Tom LaBonge has his way. Sam Zell's bid for Tribune Co. is valued at $33 a share Chicago billionaire Sam Zell's bid for Chicago-based Tribune Co., which owns the LA Times, is valued at roughly $33 per share. The Man Behind Motor Trend Magazine Dies......